Hey, little dude … Yo, munchkin … Get off the field, sophomore, the latter a derivation from last year’s Get off the field, freshman.

In addition to diamonds, Tic Tacs and iPads, add Preston to the list of good things that arrive in small packages. He’s listed at 5-feet-5 in the St. Augustine program but admits he’s 5-4. He weighs 168 pounds, about 160 of which is squeezed into his thighs.

As for the verbal jabs from opponents, they only boost Preston’s resolve.

Sitting in the St. Augustine football office this week during lunch, Preston said, “It motivates me a lot. I know that when I’m at this size, at this grade level, that I can play with these big dudes.”

That he can. Through eight games for the 6-2 Saints, Preston has rushed for 820 yards. He’s averaging 7.7 yards per carry. Against Otay Ranch he scored on a 91-yard kickoff return, plus 78 - and 47-yard runs from scrimmage.

“He’s just very explosive,” said Otay Ranch coach Anthony Lacsina. “Kind of like (Darren) Sproles. He’s got great instincts in the open field. He knows how to juke and knows when to put his head down to get a few extra yards.”

In the summer before his freshman year at Saints, Preston showed up for a strength and speed camp.

“When he beat everyone by five yards in the 40-yard dash,” said Saints coach Richard Sanchez, “we knew at that point he had some talent.”

Initially, Sanchez spoon-fed his freshman last season. The first four games Preston averaged seven carries per game. But when junior Tyler Herburger was knocked out for the season in Week 4 with a fractured leg, in stepped Preston.

Said Sanchez: “After Tyler got hurt, the biggest question was. ‘Is he ready for it mentally?’ He proved to us that he was. That’s what impressed me the most.”

As you would expect on any campus, but particularly at the quaint, 92-year-old all-boys Catholic school plopped in the middle of North Park, teammates and coaches made sure Preston’s head didn’t swell.

Regarding Preston's appearance when he wore the required beanie during Freshman Welcome Week, Sanchez said, "He looked like he was in the sixth grade."

Teammates busted Preston’s chops last season not because he was hogging headlines, but because despite all the success, he walked around like the Seven Dwarfs' Grumpy.

“They told me not to be so angry all the time,” he said. “Smile a little bit more.”

With teammates crammed into the small coaches’ office, eating lunch and studying videotape, Preston added, “I’m not really the smiling type.”

Preston is hardly loquacious, but now he dishes out as much dirt as he receives from teammates.

“We’ll make fun of his Afro, touch it all the time,” said senior offensive lineman Zach Smith. “He gives us a little punch back.”

That was Preston spraying water down Smith's back this week at practice.

Said Smith, “He’s kind of like this mischievous little kid.”

Besides Preston's God-given gifts of speed, vision and elusiveness, Sanchez said one of the back's best skills is patience. Rather than just taking a handoff and plowing straight ahead, he gives linemen a chance to make blocks, then reacts.

“I just see the little creases,” said Preston. “Then when I see daylight, I burst and go.”